Charlotte’s story: Life does have a way of working itself out

Finding Centrepoint

Charlotte, 24, was referred to Centrepoint when she was 17 after she was made to leave the family home. She spent the night in temporary accommodation but due to her age, she was referred to Centrepoint to get support that was more appropriate for her and her needs.

“I was kicked out when I was 17 and the place that I had to spend the night, because I was 17 at the time, directed me to Centrepoint”.

After meeting with the Centrepoint team and explaining her journey to them, they were able to find a more suitable supported accommodation for her. Whilst she moved between different homes in the area to find one that worked, Charlotte developed a close relationship with her key worker, Amy. 

Charlotte was appreciative that Amy took the time to listen and understand what she needed –changing up how they worked together, finding the best ways to communicate and always centring what it was that Charlotte wanted to achieve. When they began working together, Charlotte was still in full time education and although they were thinking to the future, her focus at the time was finishing sixth form, before moving onto the next step.

“When I first met her, I was still in sixth form, so it was just trying to get to the end of sixth form. I worked with Amy for years. Working with her has been great. I can’t fault her at all.”

“We took it as it came really – basically it would depend on how I was feeling and she completely understood that. If she said, ‘oh you have to do XYZ’ it would roll off me a little bit. She was always happy to do whatever I wanted, so she didn’t have an issue with anything, she just wanted it to go the way that I wanted it to go”.

After completing sixth form, they began to think about what it was that she wanted to move onto next. They found a course that she was interested in, however as COVID hit, everything came to a standstill. At the same time, Charlotte began to struggle with her mental health, and with finding the right support to help her through. Together with Amy, they tried to find different avenues for support to find something that felt right for her. 

Charlotte was referred to the Centrepoint psychotherapist team and attended sessions for a few weeks, however after recognising that this support didn’t quite meet her needs, Amy advocated on her behalf to find the right providers for her care.

“Amy helped me get my health and social care NVQ at the YMCA, so I did that and then COVID came and then during COVID everything was pretty stagnant. And then my mental health was quite bad for a good few years and so we were just trying to navigate that”

“She did quite a lot of appointments and she had to ring around quite a few different people because she didn’t think I was getting the right support somewhere”.

Support from the bursary

Whilst looking for potential career avenues, Charlotte came across an online introduction to news journalism course that sounded like something that could help her take some vital steps towards finding a long-term role. However, the course was a substantial amount of money, and she mentioned to her key worker that she was interested in it but might not be able to pay for it alone. 

Amy was able to refer Charlotte to the bursary team, who can provide young people with financial support for a range of different activities, courses and qualifications to help them take steps towards independence. After explaining why she was interested in the course to the bursary team and how it would help her in the long-term, she was swiftly accepted and able to begin.

“I saw that the online journalism course was around £450, and I knew that it was quite a big chunk of money, and I didn’t really have that amount lying around. I mentioned it to my key worker and asked if there was anything that could be done about it and she said yes and put me in touch with the bursary team”

“They put me in touch with Deborah and I went through it on a phone call, and she asked me why I wanted to do it. And then they said that they had made a decision and yeah, I got it”.

Prior to finding the course, Charlotte hadn’t been that interested in journalism, however, after seeing the divisive stories and narratives that media outlets where publishing she felt drawn to a career where she could make sure that the truth was being told. Her strong moral compass and desire for truthful storytelling is admirable and has been a huge driving force behind her getting her journalism qualifications.

“Before I did the online course, I had no desire whatsoever to be a journalist. I had never thought about it. I think I just kind of got to a point where I knew I was being lied to a lot by the mainstream media which is extremely braised.” 

“Seeing the actual evidence of where media outlets have been caught out lying it kind of got to the point where a lot of people might fall for what they are saying, which is quite dangerous. So that’s why I wanted to go down this route. I just want to be able to tell the truth”.

Starting at university

After finishing her online journalism course, Charlotte realised that this was something that she wanted to pursue as a career option and was motivated to look for university placements. Before getting her qualification, Charlotte didn’t have the self-confidence to apply to university, but after seeing what she was capable of, she realised that this was a place where she could thrive. 

“The bursary was helpful in the sense that if I didn’t do the online course first, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to apply for university because when I was doing the online course, the realisation came that I could do this. So, it was a good step in the right direction. It also came as a good distraction because of the way that I was feeling emotionally”

She has recently begun her three-year degree in multimedia journalism, where she is getting the opportunity to interview, write and publish articles across a range of different topics and mediums. She hopes that this course can give her a boost towards reaching her goals of working in journalism in the future.

Thinking to the future

Although before starting her journalism course she didn’t know that this was a career she was interested in pursuing, after realising just what she was capable of, she now has a clear idea of the areas she wants to report on. She recognises that it might not be an easy position to step into, and that it will take time and dedication to get there, but with her personal drive behind her, she knows what she needs to do to reach it.

“In an ideal world, I know that it will take time because it just doesn’t happen overnight, but I prefer to be independent. I’m interested in investigative journalism and like geopolitics, in particular the Middle East region. That’s the sort of thing I feel interested in”. 

When having a moment to reflect on her own experiences and what she has been able to achieve, she recognises that her journey has not been an easy one. She remembers some advice that was given to her during some of the more challenging moments of her story, which at the time she wasn’t sure would come true. But now that she is through those times, she can see that there was some truth in those words.

“I remember being very, very ill with my mental health and just feeling like the world’s all over for me and nothing is ever going to happen to me. And I remember Amy saying that it does get better and stuff. But when you’re actually in it, it doesn’t feel like it. The only thing I’m going to say is like, and I am one of the worst examples of this because I was one of those people that didn’t think it ever would, and it does sound cheesy or cliché, but life does have a way of working itself out”. 

We are so immensely proud of everything that Charlotte has been able to achieve and wish her all the best with her studies.